GoPro Wi-Fi BacPac and Remote available Summer 2012

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Verge got their first glance at GoPro’s Wi-Fi BacPac at CES, but the company’s back at NAB showing off the device and revealing a few more details.

The BacPac is a small module that attaches to the back of any GoPro HD HERO camera and gives you remote control of the device via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. You can connect one camera or dozens — up to 50 at once — to a single remote, all set up as far as a football field apart. The Wi-Fi Remote lets you start and stop recording on all the cameras at once, as well as tweak settings and modes. We’ve been really impressed with the GoPro’s video quality and durability, and being able to set the camera up and control it from afar is a pretty nice addition.

If you have a smartphone or tablet, the BacPac will also act as a viewfinder for your GoPro HERO2 cameras. The phone and camera connect via an ad-hoc Wi-Fi network, so you can see exactly what the camera sees as you control settings and recording. Unfortunately, you won’t initially be able to stream from the GoPro to the internet using your phone as the conduit, but GoPro reps said that’s coming in the form of a software update.

The Wi-Fi BacPac works with the GoPro HERO and HERO2 — though the smartphone-as-viewfinder capabilities only work on the Hero 2 — and will be available this summer for about $99 USD.